Ideas

> Mbieberstein

Pre-Writing Skills: Essential for Early Learners - Liz's Early Learning Spot. PLEASE NOTE: You can listen to this article in podcast format over here!

Most research on early writing has focused on lower primary-aged children which means studies on younger children (from 2-5 years) are a little thin. One of the causes of this was the long-held philosophy that very young children would learn what they needed by merely playing within a print-rich environment. However, research has since shown that this is not enough. The print-rich environment is still a great idea, but children also need explicit instruction.
How I Became a More Positive Teacher. Hey everyone!

I'm Amy from Cahill's Creations. I'm here to share my insights on being a more positive teacher.
Retired Teachers: How can we better use them?
How Much Performance Pizzazz Does a Teacher Need to be Effective?
By GABRIELLE EMANUEL, NPR This fall the NPR Ed team is celebrating great teachers and examining what makes great teaching.

When Amanda Siepiola steps into her second-grade classroom, she channels two role models.
Teacher Collaboration: Matching Complementary Strengths. Spreading Best Practices Schoolwide Teacher collaboration at Wildwood helps to diffuse conflicting adult dynamics, fosters a collaborative culture that puts the students' learning first, and turns a teacher's best practice into a schoolwide best practice.

Teacher collaboration is a top priority at Wildwood.
7 Ways to Increase a Student's Attention Span. Children often struggle to pay attention, but when they are given a task they view as challenging or hard, they are even more likely to give up before truly trying.

If you notice a child that is regularly losing focus during challenging tasks, here are some strategies that might help increase that attention span and improve the overall outcome of tasks. 1. Include Physical Activity Kids who struggle with attention often do better if they are given brief breaks for active play. Taking a break to bounce on an exercise ball, breaking up learning into chunks, and outdoor play times, or providing a quick stretching or jumping jacks break in the classroom, can all help the attention-challenged student stay focused. 2.
20 Tips for Creating a Safe Learning Environment. I visit a lot of classrooms.

And I'm always fascinated by the variety of ways teachers launch the new school year and also with how they "run their rooms" on a daily basis. From these visits and my own experiences as an instructor, I'd like to offer my top 20 suggestions for keeping your classroom a safe, open, and inviting place to learn. 1. Community Build All Year Long. Routinely include strategies and activities in your lessons, such as Save the Last Word for Me, that allow students to express their thoughts and ideas, build relationships, and practice collaboration. 2.
Beyond "Ditching the Desks," 9 Creative Ways to Avoid "The Cemetery Effect"
Avoiding “The Cemetery Effect” a collaborative post via Thomas Murray and Erin Klein This first segment reads from the Voice of Thomas Murray: State and District Digital Learning Director for the Alliance of Excellent Education, Washington D.C.

A few months ago while driving through back roads in Pennsylvania, I came across a carefully laid out cemetery. Each stone was equidistant from the other. Rows were impeccably aligned, all seemingly facing the same direction.
Grades K-1: First-Day Projects. Just Like Home 3 ways to ease first-day jitters To create a soothing environment, play soft music as your students arrive.

Choose a piece that is significant to you to give students an idea of who you are. Begin the day with a good book.
Grades K-1: First-Day Projects. First Day of Kindergarten!
Wow!

I can't believe we just completed our first day of kindergarten. Summer sure did fly by! Here's just a few of the things we did on day one. This doesn't seem like a lot to do, but when you are taking a lot of time to discuss rules and procedures for everything, you don't have much time left. We started the day by collecting supplies as parents brought the students in.
Five Health Benefits of Standing Desks. "I Wish My Teacher Had Known..."—Adults on How Teacher Empathy Could Have Changed Their Lives by Lindsey Weedston. Kyle Schwartz, an elementary school teacher in Denver, recently came up with an activity for her third-grade class that went viral.

8 Ways to Teach Mindfulness to Kids
We know mindfulness is good for us. Mindfulness allows us to be present in our parenting, choosing a skillful response, instead of succumbing to our visceral reactions. Mindfulness is also good for our kids. There is an emerging body of research that indicates mindfulness can help children improve their abilities to pay attention, to calm down when they are upset and to make better decisions. In short, it helps with emotional regulation and cognitive focus.
Ditching the Desk. I decided to focus on learning spaces this year in the classroom and around my school.
Free and Easy Rewards for Students. Coming up with positive ways of motivating our students is half the battle of creating a classroom discipline strategy. Here is a list of rewards that are both easy and free (or super-duper cheap!)

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Initial Letter Name Activity and Bulletin Board – Prek – K. Initial Letter Name Activity and Bulletin Board – Prek – K By Teachers.Net Community closeAuthor: Teachers.Net Community Name: Teachers.Net CommunitySite: See Authors Posts (233) First, the activity pictured, then below that see additional, related lessons and activity links!
One of the first activities of the new kindergarten year in the contributing teacher’s class is this activity in which students receive a cut out of the first letter of his or her name [you can make your own large letters, written on and cut from card stock] and stickers, glue-ons, markers, etc. to use in decorating the front of the letter. When finished, the beautiful letter is added to the coordinating sentence strip on the bulletin board. .Additional activities: Find the names that begin with the same letter.
Tips for Teaching Scissor Cutting Skills.

Morning Work Solutions!
Today is all about the morning routine! What students do for the first five minutes of the day sets the tone for learning all day long! As students step over the threshold of your classroom they are being hit with a swarm of internal emotions and questions. How do I feel? Am I interested?
Teach Responsibility in the Elementary Classroom. 6 Teaching Tools for Black History Month. Black History Month provides a great opportunity for students to explore and learn more about a variety of issues. But it's important that teachers "reinforce that 'black history' is American history," writes Pat Russo in Dos and Don'ts of Teaching Black History Month. Russo's article is a great place to start when determining how to best incorporate black history into your lesson plans. Really, it's a topic that should be incorporated throughout the year, Russo writes, but in February, teachers can dig deeper, provide students with more context, and connect the past to the present.

Every year since 1928, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History has provided a theme for Black History Month. This year, we'll celebrate the 100th Black History Month, and the theme is "A Century of Black Life, History, and Culture.
" A Century of Black Life, History, and Culture. B and D Reversals: A Developmental Approach {Easy Trick Included}
B and D reversals are a common issue among younger children.
No Flour Playdough. The Difference Between Praise and Feedback. 6 Tips for Correcting Pencil Grip.

Tech Tuesday: Custom Organized Computer Desktops. 15 creative & respectful ways to quiet a class. Non-verbal classroom management tips. This is the second post in the new series I’m introducing on The Cornerstone called Real Teachers, Real Tips.
Room Planner. Dailytelegraph.com.au. Crayons & Cuties In Kindergarten. Simplify Bulletin Boards With Time Saving Tips and Tricks. Hi there! I am so excited.
Let's give them something to talk about...
Why Raising a Bilingual Child Is Very, Very Simple—and Very, Very Difficult – Bilingual Monkeys. Classroom Photos. Happy Rainbow. Hooray for Hollywood!
50 fun call-and-response ideas to get students’ attention. Call-and-response is a time-tested technique for getting attention, not just in classrooms but in the military, in churches, at sports events, and in traditional cultures in various parts of the world.

Instead of repeating yourself, train students to respond to a fun or inspiring statement!
Why Emotional Learning May Be As Important As The ABCs. Edutopia.